Soil and compost shredder with foreign object discharge door



July 24, 1956 L. N. KEMP SOIL AND COMPOST SHREDDER WITH FOREIGN OBJECTDISCHARGE DOOR Filed Sept. 13, 1952 FIG.3

3nnentor K E M P LY MA N aw KM Gttomeg nited States Patent Ofice2,756,001 Patented July 24, 1956 SOIL AND COMPOST SHREDDER WITH FOREIGNOBJECT DISCHARGE DOOR Lyman N. Kemp, Erie, Pa.

. Application September 13, 1952, Serial No. 309,471 3 Claims. Cl.241-82 This invention relates to shredding machines and moreparticularly to means for shredding soil, leaves, compost, and the like.

In shredding machinesutilizing a rotating cylinder to pulverize soil,leaves, and compost and force the shredded parts therof through ascreen, it has long been a problem to prevent injury to the rotatingcylinder and other parts of the shredding machine when stones and otherforeign objects are accidentally dropped into the machine with thematerial being shredded and they come into contact with the rotatingdrum and screen. The usual practice when an obstruction such as a stonegets into the machine has been to stop the machine and remove theobstruction, however, by the time the machine can be stopped,considerable damage is usually done to the working parts of the machine.

It is, accordingly, an object of my'invention to overcome the above andother defects in shredding machines by providing a means whereby stonesand other foreign objects may be readily and quickly removed fromshredding machines before damage has occurred to the machine.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved shreddingmachine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for removingstones and other foreign objects from a sherdding machine which will besimple in construction, economical in manufacturing cost, and convenientin operation.

Other objects of my invention will become evident from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a shredding machineaccording to my invention having the side shown broken away to betterillustrate the parts thereof;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the screen of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a soil and compost shreddingmachine having a frame 1 supported at one end thereof by legs 2 and atthe other end thereof by wheels 3. Wheels 3 are attached to frame 1 byaxles 14. Body member 4 is supported on the frame 1. The legs 2 areprovided with brace members 5 which hold the legs 2 in rigid relation tothe frame 1. Handles 6 extending rearwardly from frame 1 terminate inhand engaging members 7. Rotatably mounted in the body member of themachine is drum member 10 supported at either end thereof by journalmembers 11 and having hammer members 12 secured at spaced locationsaround the periphery of the drum. The drum 10 is driven by motor 20.Motor 20 is mounted on base 21 and base 21 is mounted on frame 1. Themotor 20 drives the drum lll through belt 22. Screen 30 is disposed atthe lower portion of the body member and is curved at 31 to conformgenerally to the path of travel of the hammers 12 on the drum 10 as drum10 rotates in journals 11.

Screen 30 is provided with holes 33 through which the material beingshredded is forced by hammers 12. A hopper 8 is disposed at the top ofthe machine body 4 for receiving the material to be shredded and battle34 is secured to the rearward portion 9a of the hopper member 8 insubstantially normal relation to drum 10 to guide the material from thehopper 8 to the drum 10.

The hopper 8 is provided with flared sides 9 and 9a for more easyloading of the machine. The rearward wall 40 of the machine is hinged at41 to the body 4 of the machine and is swingable rearwardly thereabout.The lower portion of the rearward wall of the machine has angle member42 attached thereto and terminates in handle member 43. Angle member 42has return spring 44 attached thereto at 45 and the other end of thespring 44 is connected at 46 to angle member 47 and angle member 47 issecured to frame 1 by welding or other well known means. Baffle 34a ispivotally mounted to the sides of the body member by rod 35. The pivotrod 35 is journalled in plate 35g and plate 35g is secured to sides 35!:by welding, brazing, or similar fastening means. Crank 350 is attachedto pivot rod 35 and bafile 34a is urged in a clockwise direction byspring 35@ which is attached to sides 35b at 357. When large lumps ofsoil or compost are driven against baffle 34a by teeth or hammers 12 ondrum 1t), bafie 34a will pivot in a counterclockwise direction to allowthe lump to pass between it and teeth 12.

In the operation of the machine, the motor 2i drives the drum 10 in aclockwise direction by means of the belt-22. Material, such as leaves,manure, compost or soil, is put into the hopper 8 and is directed bydrum it between bafiie 34a and hammers 12. The hammer members 12 forcethe material between the bafiie member 34a, thereby disintegrating thelarger pieces of the material. The material is then driven by thehammers 12 past screen 30 and forced through the holes 33 of the screen30.

In case of a foreign object such as a rock being inadvertently fed intothe machine, the hammers 12 will force the rock around past the screen30 and by centrifugal force as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. Therock will be thrown up against baffle plate 34. The rock will then fallagainst wall 46 and roll down into contact with hammers 12 and be againprojected against baffle 34. The noise of the rock striking the battleplate 34 will warn the operator that a foreign object is present in themachine. The operator can grasp handle 43 and pivot the rear wall 40around hinge 41 to the dotted line posi tion 40a and the rock will falldownward out of the machine. When the operator releases the handle 43,the wall 40 will be closed and held in closed position by return spring44.

In previous machines, no means was provided for ejecting foreignobjects. When a stone was inadvertently put into a machine, the stonewas driven around and around by the drum 18 past the screen, therebydoing considerable damage to the machine before the machine could bestopped. By constructing the machine according to my disclosure, it ispossible to remove stones or other foreign objects from the machinebefore any damage is done to the Working parts of the machine.Considerable time is also saved since the machine does not have to bestopped to remove the stone.

Various changes may be made in the specific embodiment of my inventionwithout departing from the spirit thereof or from the scope of theappended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A soil shredded comprising a hollow body having a drum rotatablydisposed therein, an opening at the top of said body for admittingmaterial to be shredded, a discharge for shredded material adjacent thebottom of said body, a discharge opening for foreign materialin one sideof said body, a closure for said discharge opening swingably attached atthe top of said opening, and a baffle in said body attached thereto andextending downwardly and toward said drum and disposed generallyradially thereof substantially the entire length of said closure andoverlying said discharge opening for foreign objects and adapted todeflect foreign objects from their path around said drum whereby saidobjects fall into engagement with said closure, said opening foradmitting material being disposed above said bafile, said closure forsaid opening extending downwardly and toward said drum at an acute angleto said baffle.

2. A soil shredder comprising a hollow body having a drum rotatablydisposed therein, an opening at the top of said body for admittingmaterial to be shredded, a discharge for shredded material adjacent thebottom of said body, a discharge opening for foreign material in oneside of said body, a closure for said discharge opening swingablyattached at the, top of said opening, a baffie in said body attachedthereto and extending downward and toward said drum and disposedgenerally radially thereof and substantially the entire length of saidclosure and overlying said discharge opening for foreign objects andadapted to deflect foreign objects from theirpath around said drumwhereby said objects fall into engagement with said closure, saidopening for admitting material being disposed above above said bafile,said closure for said opening extending downward and toward said drum atan acute angle to said baifle, and spring means connected to saidclosure and said body urging said closure to a closed position, saidclosure having manually urged means thereon to an open position againstthe force of said spring to discharge foreign objects from said body.

3. A soil shredder comprising a hollow body having a 4 drum rotatablydisposed therein, a hopper discharging material through an opening inthe top of said body for admitting material to be shredded, a dischargefor shredded material adjacent the bottom of said body, a dischargeopening for foreign material in one side of said body, a closure forsaid discharge opening swingably attached at the top of said opening, abafile in said body attached thereto and extending downward and towardsaid drum and disposed generally radially thereof and substantially theentire length of said closure and overlying said discharge opening forforeign objects and adapted to deflect foreign objects from their patharound said drum whereby said objects fall into engagementwith saidclosure, said opening for admitting material being disposed above saidbatfie, said closure for said opening extending downward and toward saiddrum at an acute angle to said baffle, and a second bafile swingablyattached to the inside of said body adjacent said drum on the oppositeside of said opening from said first mentioned bafiie.

References Citedthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

